1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a jaw fixation assembly for use in the oral and maxillofacial surgery art to immobilize the jaw structure after corrective surgery or trauma. The assembly includes anchor members mounted around a tooth on each jaw by easily adjustable and removable retainer members. The retainer members provide a place for cross-wiring the jaws together.
2. Background
In the art of oral and maxillofacial surgery there have been several developments toward the provision of structures for stabilizing the upper and lower jaws after corrective surgery or trauma. A conventional way of immobilizing either the maxillary or mandibular structures is to provide elongated bars, such as arch bars, which are secured to the buccal and labial faces of certain ones of the teeth. The securing of arch bars with fine wires wrapped around certain ones of the teeth is particularly disadvantageous in that affixation of the wires takes considerable time to perform, during which the patient is often under a general anesthetic and is exposed to the hazards associated therewith. Moreover, the wires frequently break, are uncomfortable and are prone to trapping food particles. Other techniques include the provision of several small brackets which are secured to select ones of the teeth and then interconnected by a complex set of arch wires. In certain instances, the arch wires are strung between the upper and lower tooth sets to fix the jaw in a permanently closed condition until the corrective or healing process is complete.
The procedure in attaching the aforementioned brackets, and stringing the arch wires is complicated and often results in structural failure of the parts thereby requiring second and third efforts to rebuild the structure before the corrective process is complete. Moreover, the complex structures associated with the prior art apparatus are often bulky uncomfortable and irritating to the gingiva and other mouth tissues and tend to trap food particles resulting in the adverse affects caused thereby. They may also cause damage to tooth enamel. Wedge-like devices can tend to separate adjacent teeth. Pain and discomfort to the patient caused by present prior art devices are a major problem that needs to be overcome.
Accordingly, there has been a continuing need to improve jaw fixation devices to achieve ease of constructing a system to immobilize the jaw structure. There has also been a need for a jaw fixation system wherein the structure is mechanically simple and not subject to failure but which is easily adjusted for use with each patient and does not require a substantial amount of time to install the structure in the patient's mouth. Moreover, the simpler the fixation structure the less likelihood of mechanical failure or the provision of surfaces which will cause pain, irritation, discomfort or accumulate food particles or the like. The present invention provides these and other advantages. In the event of post-operative complications which may arise, the prior art devices take a long time to remove and replace because of the multitude of wires that must be cut and replaced to disengage and reengage the jaw immobilization devices. The device of the invention accomplishes jaw fixation more quickly and easily than prior devices with fewer parts.